Hendon eased their way to a third consecutive Middlesex Senior Cup semi-place with a 2-0 victory over Northwood at Chestnut Avenue on Wednesday evening. The double defending champions will travel to face the winners of the upcoming Harrow Borough v Southall tie in the last 4.

With Dwayne Plummer, Eugene Ofori and Ricci Crace all suspended, recalls were handed to Andy Cook, Martin Randall and Pat Gavin, but both teams were at around half-strength because of bans and injuries.

The Greens certainly profited from the weather conditions. They kicked down the slope in the first half when the strong wind and squally rain were at their backs. Amazingly, during the half-time break, both the wind and rain died away, a blessing to the large contingent of Hendon fans who had the benefit of cover in the opening period but not in the second half.

Although they opened the brighter, Hendon failed to create much in the way of clear-cut openings. Both Randall and Gavin failed to hit the targets with half-chances, while a long-range effort from Scott Cousins went directly into the midriff of Northwood goalkeeper Rob Bullivant.

In the 23rd minute, the Hendon defence was opened up by a quick Northwood counter-attack and when Christian Metcalfe slid the ball into the path of Brian Fitzgerald, he had a clear sight of goal. The shot was powerful, but Dave King produced a spectacular save.

Seven minutes before half-time, Hendon took the lead when Steve Forbes burst into the penalty area and was about to shoot, only for Luke Evans bring him tumbling down. Referee Jarnail Singh (Hounslow) had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and COUSINS sent Bullivant the wrong way from 12 yards.

Almost immediately a deep cross from Cousins deceived Bullivant who dropped the ball midway between Randall and Gavin. Both players went for the ball and managed to put each other off, so the chance went begging.

Any hopes Northwood had of getting back into the game were effectively dashed in the 51st minute. Iain Duncan, who worked tirelessly down the right flank, linked up with Forbes. The ball was passed to Randall, who then laid an inviting pass into the path of Cousins.

Many players would have smashed the ball into the graveyard behind the goal. Not COUSINS; he buried just inside the far post with a thunderous drive that Bullivant wasn't even close to getting a touch.

In the comfort zone Hendon were still on top although Northwood battled hard. However, Marien Ifura, Mark Cooper and Antony Howard completely dominated Mark Nichols and Alistair Heselton, while Jon-Barrie Bates did a fine job stifling Metcalfe.

Both teams rang the changes in the latter changes, the most notable substitution being the debut of John Frendo, who came on for Randall. He had one good opportunity to make a goalscoring Hendon debut, but he could not get the ball out from under his feet and Bullivant was able to make a smothering save.

"I think the difference between the two sides was in our strength in depth," said manager Dave Anderson. "Both of us were missing a number of players but our cover was better.

"I am delighted to be back in the County Cup semi-final. We really want to make it 3 in a row."